3 posts tagged “david byrne”

“… as I edit these pages I am aware that I have an urge to see my sometime random wandering as having a plot.”

 

Reading David Byrne’s latest release, I have to ask, “What hasn’t this man done?”  Currently, the co-founder of The Talking Heads is working with Fat Boy Slim, creating a musical collaboration on the life of Imelda Marcos.  He recently completed a commission to design artistic bicycle racks for New York City.  He also took some time to publish his fifth book, Bicycle Diaries, a passing view on two wheels.

Byrne first took to the bicycle not as an eco-statement or as health kick but as a way to get around his neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.  He quickly enjoyed the freedom and decided to bring a folding bike on his many journeys.  And through his travels, Byrne muses on why his favorite mode transportation isn’t as popular in other parts of world, like Istanbul where biking might imply being poor to Buenas Aires where no one bikes because no one has ever biked before.  He also comments how the bicycle lanes are fully integrated in Berlin’s transportation grid and cycling in Manila is anything goes. 

The best part of this book is Byrne’s thoughts and opinions as bicycles through the major cosmopolitan centers of the world, reflecting on land reparation in Palestine, Tibet and South Dakota and comparing Third World Markets to American malls in how uniformly similar they are from suburb to suburb, country to country, “… a kind of self-reflecting architecture.”

Byrne also provides unusual facts that don’t make it into the usual travelogue.  Like did you know the founder of Kodak, George Eastman, committed suicide, leaving a matter-of-fact note, stating, “My work is done.  Why wait?’  Byrne also writes about a museum in Berlin dedicated to the now-defunct East German secret police, showcasing the absurd (a birdhouse/camera) to the telling (the modest office furnishings of the head of the Stasi).

Like a bike ride, this is a breezy read.  Neither bed rocked in a firm notion nor adhering to a solid belief, Byrne’s Bicycle Diaries are like the artist, himself, open, refreshing and in motion. 

 

Dave

http://davidbyrne.com

http://penguin.com

Here are some news from news.weheartmusic.com for this week.

BICYCLE DIARIES
davidbyrne.com ♥ penguingroup.com

While fans will know David Byrne from his music from Talking Heads in the 80s and his solo work, people rarely know that Byrne is a huge bicycle enthusiast. Byrne's bicycle is his main mode of transportation around his home in New York and when he's out on his world tour (throughout Sydney, Manila, San Francisco, etc). He kept a diary and Penguin Books is publishing his book, Bicycle Diaries, on sale September 21, 2009.

Fan will take note that Byrne is recording and reading his own book for the audio book version, although from his journal, it did not go too well the first week:

Did my second audiobook reading of the Bicycle Diaries NY chapter today. My first attempt, last week, was marred by maybe a combination of nerves and a wonky lower lip, as the braces had just gone in and were scraping the inside of my mouth. (I smashed a guitar into my bottom teeth about a week before the tour ended.) There’s less of that slurring and slushing going on now, and perhaps I am more confident and relaxed as well.

What will make this audio book a treat is that Byrne, always the experimentalist, will be incorporating sound recording he's made from the streets and noise in the book.

Look for Bicycle Diaries in September (preorder information), and you can find out more about Byrne's auctioning of his folding Montague bike for the London Cycling Campaign at Byrne's Journal.

ARTIST MUSIC JOURNALS
soundscreendesign.com

Speaking of books, Soundscreen Designs is releasing the third installment of its ongoing Arist Music Journals series, featuring musician/artist Daniel Higgs, former singer of the post-hardcore Lungfish.

About the series:

Artist Music Journals are an ongoing, monthly, limited edition small book series. Each month, a visual artist or musician is asked to create a 24-page book of artworks, drawing inspiration from their connection to music. The different ways in which each artist chooses to represent their connection to music is what makes this ongoing series unique, intriguing and diverse.

Each book is limited to 1,000 copies, printed on thick stock, offset, box-scored and saddle stitched, and comes packaged in a 10" jacket. The jackets for each edition will be identical, keeping the collection's overall outward design aesthetic consistent. However, there is a distinct letterpressed sticker wrapping the opening of the jacket for each installment featuring a replication of the artist's signature, the volume, installment number, and edition.

Information on how to purchase the book is located here ($17). Special thanks to AAM for sending this in.

PARAGRAPHS
myspace.com/paragraphsband ♥ twitter.com

Paragraphs, or vowels-hating "prgrphs", is very excited to play the 7^th Street show this Friday, August 28^th, with Ice Palace and Wheat (hopefully, we will get that much-delayed Wheat review up soon).

Paragraphs describes themselves as "a Minneapolis trio that plays music featuring a lot of delay pedal, toy Casios", followed by "drummer with a goofy smile".

They have a few other shows coming up, including one with Austin's The Calm Blue Sea.

08/28/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
09/03/09 Big V’s St. Paul, MN
09/19/09 Applefest - Abnet Field La Crescent, MN
10/03/09 Augsburg College Minneapolis, MN

 12/12/2008 01:54:20  ♥ written by vu plus one ()

Kassin + 2 is the latest (and final) project from the +2 group. Consisting of three primary song writers, Moreno Veloso, Domenico Lancellotti, and Alexandre Kassin. Moreno and Domenico have already released their records (respectively as Moreno+2 and Domenico+2), and each album- based on what I've heard live, since I don't actually have their records for review - should be very different based on each of the writer's influences.

The Walker Arts Center, in association with the non-profit Cedar Cultural Center (I believe I heard this was their second effort in the partnership) have put together this poshy event (I mean, what concerts have you been to lately that actually comes with a program leaflet?). The program guide has biographies for both the opening band, Quilombolas (myspace.com) and Kassin+2.

Quilombolas' sound is mostly Spanish songs. Their two percussions (a hand and drum kit), gives it an afro funk sound, which suited Kassin's sound perfectly. From what I've heard, they only have one or two songs in English, one of which was something like "Driving to Mexico".

Kassin and company came on stage about nine and their set consists of Kassin material for about six songs before rotating to Demenico's set, then Moreno. They circled around with Kassin, with his bookend song.

When they're not speaking in broken English, they are talking to us in Portugese like all their songs.

As you can see from the set list, it's quite a few songs, but I will tell you that they dropped a few songs off their list (for instance there was only two songs played after "Ya Ya Ya" which started the encore).

To me, at least, these three musicians are like night and day. Kassin's style seems to be a combination of loungey samba music. Kassin then took the bass (these guys are all multi-instrumentalists), and Domenico took over.

Of the three, Domenico's set is possibly the best of the three because he's most about dancey-sound and noises and beeps coming from his machine (not organic). Moreno's set is really traditional folky-sound.

Although each songwriter sounds different, they sort of compliment each other to a unique blend of Brazilian music.

Kassin +2's Futurismo is out now on Talking Head David Byrne's record label, Luaka Bop. I honestly don't know the future of the +2 project, since this is the final chapter in the trilogy, I suggest you see them live before they break up or something. It's only too bad that they're wrapping up their tour with only two more dates in the US. Good luck on catching them.